SSL is a standard in web encryption technology. Occasionally, a website will have issues related the this security system, which may cause the web browser to throw an error.
What is a Certificate?
A certificate is essentially a badge provided by a third party which verifies that the page you're trying to access is legitimate. Without a certificate, a third party could easily "Spoof" a website to steal personal information. Using HTTP instead of HTTPS opens your data and browsing to a wide variety of easily preventable attacks.
Below are errors that usually appear in Firefox or Chrome.
Possible Errors:
Bypassable Errors:
Some errors can be bypassed by going to advanced → proceede to website (unsafe). For these errors it is not recommended to proceed, as any information or forms you enter can be easily intercepted.
Currently, the only bypassable error is
NET::ERR_CERT_CONTAINS_ERRORS
Non-Bypassable Errors
Most SSL errors in browsers have become non-bypassable. That means it is up to the site owner to fix the SSL certificate.
Workaround Non-Bypassable Errors
It is possible to fix this in some cases by doing the following:
- Clear Browser and Cache - Clearing the Cache in Web Browsers
- Manually enter HTTP://site.com
However, most sites use HTTPS redirect which means they will force you to use HTTPS and this will not work.
If it is an emergency and you are only attempting to view information (no logins), then it IS possible to disable browser security.
Launch Chrome with flags on Windows:
- Press keys Win+R
- Enter "C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --ignore-certificate-errors
- Press Enter
Launch Chrome with flags on OSX
- Open terminal under Finder->Applications→Utilities
- Enter
/Applications/Google\ Chrome.app/Contents/MacOS/Google\ Chrome --ignore-certificate-errors --ignore-urlfetcher-cert-requests &> /dev/null - Press Enter
List of non-bypassable errors.
NET::ERR_CERT_INVALID - Generic Error
NET::ERR_CERT_DATE_INVALID - The date the website provided was not what the cert authority had on record, so it can't be trusted.
NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID - The cert authority the website provided was not who actually issued it, so it can't be trusted.
NET::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID - The website you are trying to get to is not who the cert authority issued the cert to, so it can't be trusted.
NET::ERR_CERTIFICATE_TRANSPARENCY_REQUIRED - The certificate requires transparency, but the one provided did not match up, so it can't be trusted.
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